


What Tides May Bring

by AnchoredTether, Rueitae



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (well technically mer experimentation), Allura is kinda like Cinderella in this AU, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Angst with a Happy Ending, Captivity, Elemental Magic, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Human Experimentation, Kidnapping, Married Couple, Merpeople, Merperson Lance (Voltron), Merperson Pidge | Katie Holt, POV Lance (Voltron), POV Pidge | Katie Holt, Pregnancy, Quintessence (Voltron), all the usual rue and ivy tropes, and all the aliens are human, and are totally captured by humans for study, but the fluff is good!, but you can see the angst coming a mile away, come on in and enjoy the ride, eventually, first chapter is pretty fluffy and bittersweet, its MERMAY TIME, its gonna get a little dark, just as much a victim as the mers, mer Pidge, mer all the humans, mer lance, not sure how graphic things are going to get, plance kid - Freeform, rating might go to M, test subjects, the paladins are guardians of their elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:48:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23943379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnchoredTether/pseuds/AnchoredTether, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rueitae/pseuds/Rueitae
Summary: Small, grubby hands latch onto the space just above her fin. Just the touch brings out her playful mood, the sour one gone in an instant now that she is reminded why she left the sprawling metropolis of the Mediterranean to live out here with Lance.Pidge slowly raises her fin above the water’s surface. Attached it is the most precious baby on the planet - her baby.“Well, look at what I’ve caught,” she teases. Her son simply giggles madly, hanging onto her tail as if his life depended on it. “Lance, I believe I’ve fished up a guppie.”~~~~~In a world where the ocean seems to grow smaller every day thanks to the advancement of those who walk on land, Pidge and Lance have carved out their own little piece of domestic happiness. Until humans come for them too, hunting down them and the rest of the Elemental Guardians.
Relationships: Lance/Pidge | Katie Holt
Comments: 46
Kudos: 31





	1. Calm Waters

**Author's Note:**

> Me and Ivy decided like four months ago we were gonna do this for MerMay and its May now so HERE YOU GO.
> 
> Rue has Pidge POV and Ivy has Lance POV. Every other chapter. 
> 
> Ivy made some beautiful art to go with this AU, which you should all go look at [here](https://anchoredtetherart.tumblr.com/post/616299694362099712/early-for-mermay-just-in-time-for-rueitaes). (and there is more to come to go follow her on tumblr as well)

Warm rays of the sun penetrate through the shallow, tropical waters and into the coral enclosure that Pidge calls home. She stirs in pleasure as it hits her scales and skin. Trilling softly in contentment, she idly digs both fin and fingers through the soft, white sand that makes her bed. 

Nothing would please her more than to remain like this, basking in the sun with strong arms wrapped around her shoulders and sleek blue tail entwined with her green one. The light from the bonded mark within his palm, the same color as her tail the same as her mark is the color of his, shines through her eyelids just enough that she knows it is there the same as the sunlight. She’s used to it now, after nearly three deca-phoebs together, so the perpetual light caused by their proximity to each other does not bother her. 

Lips press softly against her cheek, tickling the sensitive area where scale meets skin. “Good morning, Beautiful,” Lance murmurs softly. 

“I’m not ready to get up yet,” she moans, shifting further into the sand. “Just a little bit longer.”

Rather than acquiesce, Lance nuzzles her more, planting kisses on her temple and all down the side of her body that faces the surface. “If I remember right,” another kiss, “you specifically asked me to make sure you woke up with the sun this morning.”

The perfect morning is broken and her eyes fly open to face the day. A low growl worms its way up her throat as the memory returns, both of her request and everything  _ else _ that happened last night to keep her up far later than she needed to be with this early wake up call. 

“ _ Quiznak _ ,” she curses, mood now foul. Clenching her fist, she turns off the magical blue light that emanates from her bonded mark. There is so much she wants to do today before Lance’s sister arrives and now she has a late start. 

She begrudgingly admits that she shares half the blame, her natural curiosity wondering what else her bonded mate had planned. Quite a lot, as it turned out.

Not that she blames him. It had been their last night together for a long while. 

Untangling herself, Pidge kicks away from the ocean floor, stirring up the grains as her tail fin hits the sand. It takes only tics to breach the surface. Her gills close automatically as she takes her first gulp of air for the day, shaking her long hair to ensure it doesn’t tangle above the surface. 

Lance joins her a moment later, combing his own hair back through his fingers, his green light turned off and chest puffed out. “Another perfect day in paradise. What did I tell you, Pidge?” He stretches his arms out wide and falls back onto the surface of the water, floating. “This place is perfect.”

Aesthetically it is. Calm and bright blue waters stretch as far as she can see. The only land for hundreds of miles are the cays that are ideal for sunbathing, one of which is just a few flicks of a tail away, its crescent shape marking their home. 

A playground such as this is perfect for raising young. 

Small, grubby hands latch onto the space just above her fin. Just the touch brings out her playful mood, the sour one gone in an instant now that she is reminded why she left the sprawling metropolis of the Mediterranean to live out here with Lance. 

She slowly raises her fin above the water’s surface. Attached it is the most precious baby on the planet - her baby.

“Well, look at what I’ve caught,” she teases. Her son simply giggles madly, hanging onto her tail as if his life depended on it. “Lance, I believe I’ve fished up a guppie.”

Orion, named for the constellation of the hunter that she and Lance so enjoyed gazing up at from sandy beaches during their courtship, cackles as his father approaches - very giddy for having just woken up. Lance glides gracefully, stalking the boy from behind. “Looks like you did!” he agrees, “maybe you should be providing all our meals.”

Pidge continues to grin as Lance’s blue scaled hands tickle Orion’s sides, forcing the child to let go of her tail and fall into his father’s grip. Lance leans back onto the water, Orion captive on his chest and secure in his arms like the otters do. The tip of the two-year-old’s teal-striped shark tail splashes on the water as he squirms and giggles. She’s not built for hunting like Lance is, and while she’s a decent forager, she likes her study of quintessence just fine. 

Lance launches the child into the air, catching Orion just before he hits the water, and allows the boy to dunk slowly beneath the surface before gathering him into his chest once more. 

“‘gan! ‘gan!” Orion says like a maniac. 

Ever wanting to please, Lance obliges his son and tosses him into the air once more. Toddler shrieks of joy fill the air.

Hopefully soon he will have siblings to share his delight with. This is a place he can grow without fear, far from the ears of humans who walk the land. By the year they grow bolder and find the capability to explore more of the ocean. Even this slice of paradise may one day be overrun by tourists and scientists alike.

“It’s the perfect place to not have to worry about overusing our powers,” she agrees to Lance’s earlier comment about the Carribean paradise. “And Rion has more room to play than he knows what to do with. He needs a sibling so he can have an exploring partner.”

Lance preens, an outward extension of how the thought of extending their three mer family excites the both of them. She still looks fondly on her own guppie days, spending hours with Matt as they watched their parents work with wide eyed curiosity. Pidge wants nothing more than to see Orion have those same experiences, and to see the other side of that herself, nurturing and teaching the next generation, the satisfaction of seeing a small face light when they understand a concept for the first time. 

And that includes having a sibling.

“We’ll be the leaders of a whole school soon,” Lance trills, right before blowing a kiss onto Orion’s exposed belly, eliciting a delighted shriek from the child. “All this open ocean isn’t going to play by itself.”

Pidge rolls her eyes and laughs. “How about we start with one and go from there? Just because your parents did it doesn’t mean that we can. We’ve got  _ other _ duties besides parenthood.”

Lance’s face falls for half a tic as he spins Orion around. Pidge sighs as she watches the water around them coalesce into a whirlpool; Lance is unconsciously using his powers again. 

“Being the Guardian of the Waters is a big portion of your plate, considering that we live in it.” She points to the swirling pool around his chest. “Your powers seem to think so too.”

He slows to a stop, waters returning to their calmer state, and releases Orion, who gleefully paddles over and nestles himself into her arms. It melts her heart and she gladly embraces him, pressing a kiss into his messy brown hair. No matter how many times he wants a hug from his mother, he will always receive it. 

“I know,” Lance says glumly, looking off into the horizon. His shoulders sink below the surface, a tell tale sign of pouting. “It’s great having this big important job and all, and someone has to do it, it's just…” he gazes longingly towards the two of them. “Sometimes I wish we didn’t have these sacred duties hanging over us and we could just be a regular family.” He frowns. “Then you wouldn’t have to leave.”

A sting pierces her heart as Pidge gazes down into eyes that in color are so much her own, but the very shape of his father’s. Orion smiles broadly up at her and she wants to melt. She doesn’t want to be away from her baby for any amount of time. 

But as one of five chosen  _ \-  _ the mark _ , birthmark,  _ on her left arm tingles - to watch after the elements, Pidge has to balance duty to her people and all living things within the ocean with her family life. Being a Guardian is how she met Lance and is able to have this life, but somehow she thought it would be easier to stay together with their shared destiny.

But duty calls. The kelp forest back home isn’t growing like it should and Orion is too young to travel such a long distance to the Mediterrean. 

And Pidge swore as a child that she would be a better guardian than her predecessor, caring for water-bound plants rather than simply vanishing without a word. She will pass this ancient knowledge first hand to her successor, rather than subjecting them to floundering around to learn it on their own as she had.

“I’m just thankful Rion won’t have to worry about the world on his shoulders,” she says softly, stroking her webbed claws gently through her son’s hair. “Him or his siblings.” Because if Pidge had anything to say about it, she will be living a nice long life and making sure Lance and their children did too. 

She doesn’t miss the glint in Lance’s eyes nor the glow of blue on the water's surface around him. With the most powerful magic of any of the five Guardians, that of water, he creates and rides a wave over her. Light shines against the water droplets, refracting and shimmering with the colors of the rainbow. Lance dives underwater, leaving hardly a ripple in his wake. 

His scaly arms wrap around her from behind, and though Orion reaches out for his father, he doesn’t make a move to leave her arms. Lance’s show of affection doesn’t spook her like it used to. Now she simply settles into his arms and lets him bask in the glow of being able to show off to his mate and child.

“As long as we’re together we can do this, just like we promised. Once Rion and his siblings are old enough we’ll travel as a family and we’ll show them all the wonders the ocean has to offer,” he promises, head snuggling into the crook of her neck.

As long as we’re together.

Somberly, Pidge grasps his hands in hers, resting against her chest. Orion squirms from her grip, slipping silently under the water. She feels him swim around their fins, enjoying his mobility. 

“Nothing is going to happen to you, Pidge,” he says softly into her ear, as if he senses her thoughts. “What happened to Matt and Sam was unusual, they and we are as safe as we can possibly be.”

He’d promised during the courtship dance to never leave her - a sentiment that meant more to her than any of the traditional vows for a growing family and good health, which she also wanted. She’d only just gotten her father and brother back. Knowing they were safe and sound and the pirate ship that had captured them sunk is the only reason she can be so carefree today.

Squeezing his hand as tight as she dares is calming, his body against hers proof he is here with her. “But what if it becomes a trend?” she worries. “Humans are traveling deeper and further out into the ocean at an exponential rate. New generations may not get to experience breathing air like we do. The entire Mediterranean pod has been under lockdown for a few decades now and Matt and Dad were  _ still _ captured.  _ Shiro _ is still missing,” she rambles, more distressed by the tic. “And we still haven’t located the Fire Guardian— what if Rion--“

“Pidge.”

“Humans are tricky, Lance,” she continues in a frenzy. “They have horrible glass cages that block the sound of the ocean and nets that tangle around every fin and tighten the more you struggle. My vines,” she gulps, “My vines barely broke through. If it had taken just a minute longer they’d still have Dad and--”

“ _ Pidge _ .”

Swiveling around, light of blue and green mix together in their palms and shines between them. Having unconsciously allowed her mark to reach out for him, Lance’s voice grounds her. He meets her gaze with eyes that beguile his age, as blue and as deep with wisdom as the ocean. 

“It’s going to be okay,” he says. “Shiro has spent a lot of time near the surface and has mastered his powers beyond what you, me, and Hunk can do. He’s got advanced military and survival training. If there is anyone that can go to the surface and come back home safe, it’s Shiro."

Pidge tries to find the words, but just remembering the overwhelming feeling of being so scared for her family freezes her brain. The same terror seizes her anew every time she thinks of Orion tangled in one of those nets, or even herself disappearing without a trace without so much as an opportunity to say goodbye or tell loved ones of her fate.

Blessedly, Lance doesn’t need her to speak. He wraps his arms around her again and holds her close. “I swear I’ll be right here when you return. And you  _ will _ return, otherwise I’ll come find you just like you found Matt and your father.”

“I’m holding you to that,” she says despite a dry mouth. “You’ll know if I’m taken from the water.”

“I promise I won’t look too often,” he teases lightly. 

“And I promise I won’t go sunbathing,” Pidge says with a bit of a smile in remembrance of how Lance had gone into a frenzy when she’d done so once during her pregnancy. She takes comfort in the knowledge that he will know if she’s been kidnapped, for his bonded mark will no longer glow if she is not in the ocean. “The only reason I’m going on land is to rescue your sorry tail.”

All bonded pair’s marks glow when the couple is in close proximity to the other, but because Lance is the Guardian of the Waters, his is amplified. His glows ever so faintly even when she’s across the ocean.

Lance smiles into her hair, every subtle movement feeling like another little delight just as if she were viewing it. She loves the way he kisses her gently and softly says, “I could not ask for a better rescuer.”

The off key siren song of their son breaks the peaceful moment.

“Must be my sister.” He frowns. “Ready to say goodbye?”

Pidge huffs in his arms. “No,” she grumbles. “I wish I’d gotten up earlier to spend more time with you two. I’m going to miss you both.”

She feels the upwell before Veronica even surfaces. When she does, she has Orion snug in her arms, wrestling and giggling with him, the same as her brother had not moments ago. “Not too early, am I? Awww,” she continues with a delighted face. “You two are glowing after daybreak, that's so cute.”

Lance tightens his grip around her and Pidge feels heat invade her cheeks. The bonded glow is really for keeping a family safe at night from bold predators, but during the daytime it's a clear sign of affection - mates reaching out to each other. 

“Right on time, unfortunately,” Pidge grumbles, having the presence of mind to smile gratefully a moment later. “Thanks for coming to pick him up.”

“I’ll bring supper by later when I come to get him this evening,” Lance adds. He winks. “Tell Mom it’ll be squid.”

“Skid!” Orion giggles, waving his arms in anticipation of one of his favorite foods. 

Veronica waves them off. “This is a treat. You know Mom loves it when she can dote on her grandbabies, and I get her favor as the messenger,” she grins. It makes Pidge smile, the way she does it, all of Lance’s family has a fun swagger to them that Pidge has enjoyed ever since meeting them. It has helped her see the appeal of a large family, with how close they all are. 

Lance glares, a poor attempt as he loves his sister so much. “If anything,  _ I’ll _ be the favorite child since it’s my kid she gets to have all day.”

Veronica meets Orion’s happy gaze. “Well, are you ready to go to grandma’s?”

Orion pauses for a moment, as if in thought. His arms jolt out of the water and up above his head. “Yea!”

Pidge’s heart melts, unable to keep the smile off her face at his antics. She glides to him, her shoulders dipping below the water as she takes him into a hug. “Mommy is going to miss you so much.”

“Mama,” he says in a voice so soft that Pidge is only able to distinguish it from consistent practice. “Dun go.”

“Aww,” she coos, kissing his cheek, “You’re going to have so much fun with Grandma and your cousins. I’m gonna tell Nonna all about you growing up so she’ll be ready when you get to visit her.”

Orion’s face looks anything but convinced, but his attention deviates when Veronica blessedly shows him a shell. “And we can go find more, you can give Mommy the prettiest one when she comes home.”

Pidge pivots to Lance. “If I don’t go now, I’ll never get out of here.”

His expression is sorrowful, but fond as he nods, understanding how hard this is for her. It’s the first time she’s had to go tend to the kelp personally. “I’ll give you a boost,” he says, extending an arm her way accompanied with a smirk - the one he loves to use right before he’s ready to go all out. “The sooner you get there the sooner you can come home.”

She can’t help but grin fondly as she takes his hand.

Veronica swims Orion a short distance away. Pidge is grateful because she has eyes only for Lance as he ducks under the water, gently taking her with him. 

He swims gracefully under her and then she under him as they hold fast to each other, gaze fixated on the other as they complete the circle again and again. 

The courtship dance is typically reserved for, well, courtship. Pidge allows her heart to melt as Lance has deemed it worthy enough a goodbye - a reminder of their promise to love and cherish each other always, even when they are apart - and that he will be there for her when she returns. It is exactly what she needs right now. 

With a curt flick of his fin, Lance speeds up the dance. The two of them swim faster and faster until Pidge can feel the miniature current around them and can no longer see Lance through the bubbles they’ve created. The centrifugal motion strains at her arm, the entire point of the dance being to hold fast to her mate. 

The moment she lets go she has to leave him.

Finally her arm can no longer physically take it. She lets go and is sent gliding away. In their wake, a beautiful array of bubbles in the shape of a heart. 

Lance swims around and takes her in his embrace. “We’re getting better and better at it,” he preens. Indeed, it’s a much more defined shape than when they were first joined. “When you return I bet it will be even better.”

“One day it’ll be as good as either of our parents can do,” Pidge says, hugging him back. Perhaps there was something to the legends, that the more in sync with your mate, the more whole your heart would be - both the beating heart and the courtship heart. She leans up and kisses him. “I love you. I’ll be home before you know it.”

“Give my love to your family,” he tells her. “I’ll see you soon.”

Gracefully, Lance pushes her off from him. Immediately she misses his touch, but it is well past time for her to get going. 

Lance breathes in deep and closes his eyes. Scales on the underside of his tail and along his arms - areas that typically shine only at night - glow a soft blue. The birthmark he bears on his right fin lights up brightly with ancient magic that Pidge is all too familiar with. Though illuminated, the waters around them darken, as if the very mood is chilled and weighs heavy befitting the power they hold.

When Lance really wants to use his power, it shakes the ocean to its core. 

Water swirls up from beneath her, current rushing by her hair as if it were a gust of wind. Pidge holds on fast as long as she can, making sure she has a smile on her face for her baby to remember her by for the few months she’ll be gone. It’s easy to do when he giggles and waves to her, Veronica waving goodbye as well. 

Lance’s current overtakes her, spitting her out further into the Atlantic in a matter of minutes than she could have ever hoped to have swam on her own. 

She rides the current for a varga. As it recedes the further from Lance she is, Pidge kicks her own tail into high gear. She misses her family already, but is motivated at the sight of the Canary Islands. She’s close to the Straight and then will only be a few days to home. He’s cut nearly a full moon cycle from her journey. Such is the power entrusted to the Guardians. 

Heal the kelp forest, pay a visit to her parents and brother, try and convince them to move closer to her and Lance - where they’d be safer - her task list is short but important. Dreaming of the day she sees her mate and child again spurs her onward faster than she would normally swim.

~~~~~

It takes six months for Pidge to return home. When she does, it is to a silent and un-lived-in cay. The fin-shaped mark on her palm refuses to glow no matter how much she wills it. 

It is past dark and she is tired. She’d been too close to not swim the few more miles and sleep in her own bed. That bed had been empty, the state of cleanliness disturbing. 

Though her fins ache, she numbly swims another few miles to Lance’s childhood home. There, she receives the tightest hug from Lance’s mother the moment she enters. Before she even speaks, Pidge knows Lance isn’t here. Her palm still isn’t glowing.

“Katie, my dearest,” she says with a broken heart. “I am so sorry.”

Pidge eventually finds herself alone, lying on her home cay. Rain pelts down on her skin and scales, the dark skies and dark palm reflecting her mood. 

She is cold. The sand does little to help even on the surface and there are no arms or tail to wrap around her. 

Lance isn’t here. None of their neighbors have seen him in months. Not since he and Hunk were taken by humans. She is the only Guardian left. Her only comfort is that Orion is safe, enjoying the extended time at his grandparent’s place.

Pidge has cried for hours, digging herself far into the sand to simulate his touch to no avail. Surely she must be cursed. To do this again, to have someone she loves taken from her again, she isn’t sure her heart can bear it. 

She knows what to do, get Lance back no matter what - just as she promised. And she will. But first, she needs to cry all her tears. 


	2. Fear and Wrath

Lance thought his mental preparation had been sufficient to be without Pidge for an inevitably long time - foolishly figuring it would be different this time with his son for company - but before the movement passed he already felt deeply lonely. This was the first time since Orion was born that she needed to be gone longer than a quintant, since she wished to stay by his side while he was still so young. 

He knew long before courting her that they would spend a lot of time apart simply because they were Guardians, each with their own separate duties. Having his family close by for company certainly helped, and he figured it would get easier with time, but Pidge occupied a large part of his heart and when he couldn't see her beautiful, radiant eyes each morning, the day felt dour before it could even start. The only thing that truly brought him joy during this time was little Orion.

A few days after Pidge left, Orion was in a fit of frustration, crying for his mother at every possible moment. The Atlantic tugged on his mind at the same time, begging for Lance to adjust the northernmost current. 

The Guardians all had a sixth sense for their respective element - they understood it with a primitive instinct tingled through their scales. Visions came to them in their dreams - day and night - guiding them to the places where they were needed most. All of the Guardians knew the oceans like the map of their own scales, but Lance had a sort of amity with water as if only he could hear and understand a language spoken by the waves.

Lately, his dreams were filled with glimpses of a red and black tail...

They were probably just dreams. Not everything he experienced in his sleep was foreshadowing and prophecies. He would get exhausted from sleeping real fast if that were the case.

He hastily promised his son he would teach him how to hunt as soon as he got back (not that it would be much at his age, Lance planned to let him chase around one of the little blue fish around the reef). Rion's big brown eyes sparkled at that promise, melting Lance’s heart on the spot. He couldn't wait to finish his work so he could return to warm Caribbean waters and see his son smiling again.

His job was fairly easy as far as the five Guardians went, but Lance spent a lot of time traveling - had a  _ lot _ of ocean to cover. Luckily he could easily speed up his travel. Even without his water powers, he was an incredibly fast swimmer. Depending on how far he had to travel and how much he relied on his powers to cut the time away from his family, he was usually exhausted afterward and spent the next few days mostly resting. He needed to balance his means of travel this trip - he didn't want to be away from Rion for too long but he also wanted to have the energy to teach him how to hunt because he knew the toddler would be begging to go the tic he returned.

Currents were a thing all mers could feel and understand just like a sailor can gauge the wind and properly adjust the sails, but Lance however, could practically see their paths as they shifted within the seas. It was like a shark's ability to feel magnetic waves, as he could both sense and read their directions. He tried explaining it to Pidge when they were kids and it baffled her genius mind how he was able to understand the ocean so intimately.

_ "Wait, you can  _ see _ the currents?” Pidge cocks an eyebrow. “Am I going to need those things humans have to correct sight - glasses?" _

_ "Yeah? T-to seeing the currents, not... not to your comment about your vision. You can't?" Lance swam up close to her side and pointed to guide her gaze to where the current shifted to the east. "The warm current bends right there, going further that way." _

_ A moment of silence passed with the green-scaled mermaid squinting her eyes skeptically at what was - to most - nothing more than the expanse of water. _

_ "Really? Nothing?" he asked with a hint of disappointment as he pulled out of her private space. _

_ She shook her head. "You know, it just might have something to do with you being the Water Guardian. Since you're supposed to be in tune with water and all." _

_ His lips pursed together, thin brows lowering. "I thought that was too easy of an answer. I was hoping it was a Guardian thing, and not just a Water Guardian thing." _

_ She had a look on her face he had never seen before, a hint of surprise but there was something deeper in her amber eyes like a somber realization. "Do... do you not like being the Guardian of Water?" _

_ Lance was hesitant to answer. "No... no that's not it. I don't know..." He hugged his arms across his chest, chilled as familiar loneliness weighs on his heart. "I guess I just wanted someone to share something in common with... someone who could understand..." _

_ She slowly moved her tail to close the short space between them, resting a hand upon the sapphire scales of his shoulder. "I am a Guardian too, Lance. We may be different but we don't have to bear all this responsibility alone. I certainly feel peculiar and overwhelmed at times but... then I remember Shiro and Hunk and...and I have you, and..." A warm coral spread behind the scattered green scales upon her cheeks. “I’m here for you too.” _

_ He stared at her a moment too long as he let her words soak in, his eyes softening as a grateful smile slowly found place upon his lips. "Thanks, Katie." _

_ "Pidge," she corrected with a mischievous grin. "You can call me Pidge." _

The currents were easy to adjust as he fiddled with the shifting waves, utilizing a craft and science only he could fully understand. The marking of the Water Guardian upon his right flipper glowed white as he swam alongside the current, conducting his arms to guide the waters to follow a better rhythm. The smallest adjustment in warm and cold currents affected the very weather patterns and with Shiro missing...this part of Lance's job became more important than ever. If a major storm broke out, Lance was the only one who had any chance of taming its wrath.

Despite his reassurances to Pidge last movement, Shiro's disappearance terrified Lance. Two out of five Guardians were missing and a heavy dread weighed upon his shoulders, a bitter doubt whispering in his mind that it was only a matter of time before they met the same fate. His irrational, protective side wanted Pidge to stay by his side so he could ensure nothing happened to her, but at the same time she could not ignore her sacred duties. He knew how important it was to her considering the previous Forest Guardian abandoned her calling and Pidge didn't want to follow in her shadow. She gave great effort to tend to all the kelp forests and mangroves with meticulous care and, according to Hunk, took her job "a little too seriously." Pidge was always one to fly above the standards and prove everyone her worth, and it was her dedication and love of being a Guardian that caused Lance to fall head over tail for her.

Now that he thought about the previous Guardians his mind started to fill the silence of the Atlantic's empty expanse with numerous what ifs... he nearly swam too close to a passing boat as he was lost in his troubled thoughts. No one knew what happened to the previous Guardians... and now history was repeating itself...

_ It was only a coincidence, right? _

_ But what if Pidge disappeared next? _

His mind began to wander too much and he had to take a breather from his job to steady his wracked nerves. He looked down at his turned up palm to find his bond mark maintaining its usual glow of a faint green. Pidge was still in the ocean somewhere. No matter how far, he knew she was still within the bounds of his domain. It wasn't much as far as comfort, but it was better than complete blindness in regards to the safety of his mate.

Once he was satisfied with his tweakings upon the currents, he made his way back home with haste, eager to spend time with his son to keep his mind off of its automated state of worry. He assured himself Pidge was fine - she could certainly defend herself. She wasn't nearly as powerful as the other Guardians but she knew how to use her gifts to the best of their ability and she was cunning and clever enough to outsmart anyone and any problem. If anyone embodied the definition of capable, it was Pidge.

Lance was grateful it was nightfall by the time he returned to the shipwreck his family called home because he was too exhausted to do anything more than settle down to sleep. He chatted with Veronica for a few minutes before finding Orion curled up in a corner of one of the ship's rooms, half buried under one of the mounds of sand that filled half the structure. He swam slowly and carefully so the movement of water wouldn't disturb him and curled his long body comfortably around him. He stroked a hand through his short brown hair, a shade somewhere in between his dark brown and Pidge's golden auburn, all while stealing glimpses at his palm to make sure his mark symbolizing his love for Pidge continued to burn a soft green. He knew he was being paranoid but he couldn't help the urge to check the hope that she was safe. The bound mark was no guarantee, only that she remained in the ocean...but he had to believe she was fine otherwise the anxiety would eat him alive. 

He cleared the worry from his mind and watched the small bubbles that escaped from Orion's quietly snoring mouth and found himself quickly lulling off to slumber.

* * *

_ Why did toddlers have claws? _

Lance woke up with an annoyed groan to his son continually poking him all along his exposed skin like an antsy crab. Orion's claws weren't nearly long or sharp enough to break his skin from mere poking, but it was still enough to quickly stir him awake, using his tail to gently push Orion away.

"Okay okay, I'm up, I'm up!" he said with more mirth than bitterness. Even when his son was annoying Lance couldn't stay mad at him for very long. "You are  _ really  _ excited to learn how to hunt, aren't you?"

Orion sped forward and clasped onto Lance's waist, his short little arms barely reaching his sides as he tried to hug his father. "Miss you. Play with me!" He looked up at him with eyes as big as sand dollars, his lips puckered in pleading.

Lance's expression softened as he took his hands to cradle Orion's face. "Of course! We'll spend all day together.” It was the least he owed his son after the time away. “Let's practice your hunting skills by seeing which one of your aunts we can wake up with a sneak attack!"

Rachel was the unfortunate one to sleep in that morning and wake up to her nephew and brother tickling her until she landed a smack to Lance's face with her tail, giving him a bloody nose.

"I should have known preying on Rachel was a bad idea," he muttered nasally as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You should be thanking me," Rachel decided, "because this means it'll be easy to show off and demonstrate to Rion how you hunt a shark."

Lance narrowed his gaze at her but he couldn't keep the stink eye up for long as Orion swam in excited circles around them, exclaiming "Sark! Sark! Sark!"

"Rachellllll," he whined. "Now he'll have these things called high expectations!"

"Pfft, you're the Water Guardian, you can  _ cheat _ if you want to."

"Ugh, why'd  _ you  _ have to be the one to sleep in this morning."

* * *

Five phoebs passed.

Pidge would normally be gone for roughly three, maybe four phoebs. Lance tried to give her a buffer before he started worrying because it was impossible to estimate how fast she would swim, if there would be storms on her way there or back, or how long she would need to stay in the Mediterranean. There were plenty of complications and unforeseeable variables that could slow her down and prolong her time away from home.

Once the fifth full moon passed since her absence, Lance started to panic. His mark still glowed, she was still in the ocean...but for all he knew, what if it only meant her  _ body _ was still in the ocean? What if she were dead somewhere along the expanse of the Atlantic and he would never know until he found her?

_ “I swear I’ll be right here when you return. And you  _ will _ return, otherwise I’ll come find you just like you found Matt and your father.” _

He  _ promised _ her.

Too many of his dreams were haunted by her stiff body and lifeless gaze. What if he wasn't being paranoid, but only acting on instinct?

Hunk, the Earth Guardian, came to visit him with recent information on Shiro's disappearance. It was great to see his best friend again but the somber news kept reeling him back to the possibility that something had happened to Pidge. Hunk received intel that Shiro disappeared in the northern Atlantic and he wanted to travel with Lance to investigate possible boats in the area, confident that Lance was the safest one to complete this task with his ability to control the waters. Lance was hesitant, his fear for Pidge holding him back, but he eventually agreed to it knowing it was his duty as a Guardian to find those who were lost.

They knew Shiro and the Fire Guardian were still alive, otherwise they would have learned of a newly born mer who held the symbol of Sky or Fire. They were out there somewhere, captured or lost or trapped, it was uncertain.

They planned to set out in the next few days, allowing Hunk to have a chance to rest after the long journey from his division of the Indian Ocean. One night when he was settling into bed with Orion, his son voiced a question that broke something inside him.

"You'll get to hang out with Hunk for a few more days," he assured Orion, gently trailing a hand up and down his back to soothe him to sleep. "He and I won't be gone for long, it'll be like one of my normal trips away. We'll be back before you know it."

The little boy was quiet for a moment, curling his fins closer to his body. "And what about Mommy?"

Lance stiffened, taking a deep breath to steel his nerves as he tried to hide the uncertainty in his voice. "Mommy will return home soon. She might even beat me coming back!"

"What if she don't? What if she hurt?"

His eyes widened. Rion had never voiced such concerns before...Lance didn't even know he was capable of imagining worst-case-scenarios at his age, and had to wonder what grotesque images filled his small mind. "Mommy's fine, she's going to be okay-" he tried to reassure his son but he spun around in the sand to look up at his father with eyes narrowed in pain, his lips wobbling as his face scrunched up.

"How you know? What if Mommy never come back?"

Lance's gills nearly flattened against his neck as he forgot how to breathe. His chest tightened, his stomach twisting itself into several uncomfortable knots. He couldn't lie to himself anymore and now he couldn't even reassure his own son. It had been  _ five phoebs. _

"Mommy's fine, see?" He showed Rion the bonded mark on his palm, faintly illuminating his son's face in a pale green light. "She's still in the ocean. She's just working a little harder than she should be, like she always does." He leaned down to plant a kiss on Rion's forehead, then gently moved up from the bed of sand. "Go to sleep and I'll be here in the morning when you wake, okay?"

The child was hesitant, his face still pouting. "'Kay..."

"I love you, Rion," he said as farewell.

"Love too..."

Lance gave him one last look, his expression pained, but he forced a smile so his son wouldn't have to worry. He didn't start dashing until he left the ship, calling out to Veronica as he passed.

"Watch over Orion, I'll be back."

"Wait, where are you going?" she asked as she followed behind him, trying to keep up.

"I'm going to get Pidge," he answered determinedly, his Guardian symbol already starting to glow in tandem with the line of scales that followed the sides of his tail.

"Oh no..." Veronica knew from her brother's expression and tone of voice that there was no stopping him. His scales were starting to show more red and she knew that was a bad sign. "Hunk!"

The golden-scaled mer snapped his attention to Veronica and then Lance, who was already gaining distance. When he reached Veronica's side he asked with raised brows, "What’s going on?"

“Lance has lost it - go make sure he doesn’t get himself killed!”

"Gotcha. I'm used to that," he gave her a reassuring nod and chased after the Water Guardian, maneuvering to take advantage of the currents Lance created to swim faster. "Lance! What are you thinking?!"

"I have to find her!! She should have been back by now! She should have been back  _ movements ago!” _

"Lance, you're being irrational, just stop and think for a minute!"

"I've done plenty of thinking, it's about time I  _ acted." _

With that, Lance swam on ahead with speeds only he could ever achieve, disappearing into the dark waters of the night. Fear pounded in his chest, adrenaline causing him to fly through the waters without a thought of slowing down. He continually checked his palm to see if the mark changed, with any indication he was getting closer to Pidge. He altered course a few times to feel out the waters for any signs, but his compass remained silent in guiding him.

He vaguely heard Hunk calling for him in the distance but he elected to ignore him. He couldn't bear listening to his friend reiterating the same exact lines he told himself in the past phoeb to reassure himself that Pidge was fine and he was overthinking things. It was far past the point of mere anxiety - if Pidge wasn't back by now something was  _ wrong. _

The ocean was temperamental, one moment serene and peaceful but held the power to become a violent force of destruction. Lance channeled that raw, ferocious energy in his bones as his sapphire eyes saw red and created angry waves in his wake. The Guardians were protectors over their respective elements, but in times like these Lance practically  _ became _ the ocean as he embodied the capacity of all its ruthless power. 

He didn't notice the boat speeding right towards him until lightning flashed above the surface, illuminating the waters save for the massive shadow that loomed over him.

Lance dove deeper, adjusting his route as he zig-zagged and altered the waves to appear more like a natural storm. He checked his palm; they didn't have Pidge. He headed in the direction the boat came from, hoping that if Pidge were nearby she would be traveling in the opposite direction of the human vessel. After a few minutes of gaining distance he came to a stop, his anger and blood red scales starting to fade as he caught his breath.

"She has to be here...somewhere..." He bit his bottom lip, thinking back to Orion's worried eyes and his burning questions that seared Lance's very lungs with a deep, yearning pain. "Where are you, Pidge?"

The uncertainty of her well-being ate away at his heart but there was something about their son worrying about her as well that caused Lance to snap. He couldn't bear the thought of Orion losing his mother...

His elongated ears twitched at the approaching movement of water and when he twisted around the boat  _ returned.  _ All his worries sank away with the sinking of his heart as absolute fear chilled his blood. The humans were  _ following him. _

He kicked his tail into high gear, using his Guardian powers to speed away and barely avoid the slicing motion of some long string apparatus that shot into the water.

_ What if Pidge has been in the ocean this whole time, but was captured by these bastards? _

He didn't have time to dwell on the thought as the humans pursued. They were fast but if he used his powers his scales glowed and drew attention to himself. He called upon his powers and thrust as violent of a wave towards the boat as he could muster. Before he could get far in his escape, something landed in the water ahead of him. He braked before reaching the substance the container leaked, recognizing the small whiff in his nose as poison. He turned sharply to avoid it only to find more walls of the bright purple substance, nets from the boat blocking him from escaping that direction. 

They were trapping him.

He grit his teeth and narrowly avoided more of the cords that shot down into the water, a few of them succeeding as they grazed his skin and scales. He dashed around in the limited space to gain speed, hoping his risky idea would work. Once he was moving fast enough he bolted towards the surface, breaking water to leap over the wall of poison and land on the other side.

They, however, anticipated this.

Lance cried out mid-arc as something pierced the side of his tail. He commanded the currents to thrust him away but his powers caused the waters to barely nudge him. In his confusion he twisted his torso to see his Guardian mark was still glowing upon his flipper but started flickering in the dark waters. He didn't get very far since the object impaled into his side made it painful to move his tail and before he knew it there were cords wrapping forcefully around different parts of his body and yanking him out of the water.

He landed hard on the deck of the ship, letting out a yelp as pain shot up his tail. Breathing became difficult and for some reason he couldn't properly close his gills. He grit his teeth and fought through the pain as he whacked one of the nearby humans as hard as he could with his tail. He called upon the ocean to help him but for some reason she wasn't listening to his plight. He pushed against the restraining cords and pulled himself over the edge of the boat, struggling against hands that tried to pin him down.

After his long, struggling attempt, he finally fell from the edge of the boat towards the water. But soon after splashing into the depths, pain coursed through his entire body as the projectile still embedded in his tail did something to fry his nerves and cause the midnight waters to blacken even deeper.

The bioluminescence from his scales faded, shortly followed by his vision.

* * *

It took several moments for Lance to realize his eyes were open and he wasn't still half asleep. Faint light barely illuminated the darkness as his eyes adjusted and he could already sense he was in a confined space of water - no longer than thirty feet. He was resting on some strange long piece of cloth loosely suspended from the ceiling that kept him submerged in the water but felt like he was laying in a soft bed of sand. He saw the injury near his second dorsal fin was bandaged, the weapon from before removed.

The next thing he noticed was the thin metal hoop situated around his neck. His hands felt the foreign weight, loose enough that it didn't bother his gills but tight enough that he couldn't possibly take it off.

He let out a groan that quickly turned into a startled shriek when he heard a familiar voice.

"Oh good, you're finally awake!"

Lance twisted his torso to the side to see Hunk laying on the floor of their confined space, his expression exhausted but otherwise there appeared to be no injuries on his friend.

"Oh gosh sorry, I didn't mean to scare you-" Hunk started to apologize but Lance cut him off.

_ "Quiznack! _ What the fish are you doing here?!!"

Hunk's shoulders hunched. "I was following after you and by the time I caught up I saw the humans taking you onto their boat...I did my best to stop them but uhh...yeah. They got me."

Lance sighed, laying back down before he lost his balance on the weird bed the humans provided him. "Did they do something to you so you couldn't use your powers?"

"What?! They can do that?" His thick brows creased in worry. "I couldn't dodge their wire things very well so it didn't take them long to pull me on board. But it looks like you put up more of a fight." He nodded to the wound in Lance's tail.

"They hit me with something and...I can't really describe it. It's like my powers were just...taken away from me." He held out his hand, testing to see if the waters would obey his command, but nothing happened - not even the marking upon his flipper flickered. He clenched his hand into a fist, his voice shaking in anger. "It's like I'm not even a Guardian anymore...how can they so easily strip away something that has always been a part of me?"

"I don't know...but I get the feeling that these aren't your average mer hunters, they sought us out  _ specifically." _

Lance turned his head to look at Hunk. "You think these are the same people that took Shiro?"

Hunk nodded, his face grim. "They might have the Fire Guardian, too."

A moment of silence stretched between them. Lance stared at the dark lid that was their ceiling like a starless night sky, wondering how his family would console Orion when his father wasn’t with him in the morning. Would he ever see his son again? Would he ever see Pidge again? Here he was, worrying his tail off over her being hurt or captured while the very thing happened to him instead. His heart ached more than the wound upon his scales and he felt his eyes begin to burn.

"I'm such an  _ idiot,"  _ he started.

"Lance, there's no way you could have seen this coming."

"They -" He let out a growl of frustration as the words escaped him. "I don't know! They knew where I was  _ because _ I was using my powers! The boat came straight for me, and when I tried to evade they were able to track me down. If I hadn't snapped and overused my Guardian abilities I doubt they would have captured me  _ or _ you. I would be able to return to Orion in the morning. I would have been able to continue searching for Pidge-"

"Hey, Lance - look at me." Hunk waited until his friend turned his head to look at him with bloodshot eyes. "You couldn't have foreseen any of this. You were just doing what you thought was best for your family. And...for all you know, they might...they might have Pidge already."

"I thought about that," Lance admitted bitterly. "And if they don't, I think it's only a matter of time before they find her too." He paused for a moment as he tried to compose himself, but his voice still wavered, his throat tight with emotion. "You know what the last thing Orion said to me was? He was wondering if his mother would never come back...if he would never see her again...and... _ I couldn't stand it, Hunk... _ I couldn't bear to see him like that. And now?" He took in a deep breath, his words feeling like a heavy finality.

"Now...I'll probably never see him again."

* * *

There was nothing either of them could do.

Without their Guardian powers, Lance and Hunk were helpless to do anything but comply with their captors. Lance certainly thought about clawing or even biting the humans whenever they were fed, but he figured it would be useless. He didn't want to aggravate them when they were graciously cleaning his wound and helping it heal, and even by the slim chance he and Hunk were able to escape the small tank, they would have to slither their way through the ship before they ever reached the ocean again. There was no point in resisting because the chances of getting back into the water were few and far between, and fighting back only caused Lance's wound to hurt more. Ultimately they were out of their element and that was the primary disadvantage.

They were in the human domain now. There was no escaping.

Black walls encased the glass around their tank and they could feel the water shift as they were transported off the ship. Several minutes passed with nothing but the movement of the tank and the sounds they could detect outside their enclosure as any indication of what was happening. Eventually the top hatch opened and Lance was carefully fished out by some apparatus. It was similar to what he was resting on only larger, pulling him out of the water and down a corridor only to be lowered down into another water enclosure. This one was much larger, at least fifty feet long and wide but the water was barely two feet deep. Lance was confused and realized Hunk wasn't joining him.

Instead a female human entered the enclosure, sloshing through the water until she knelt down beside him, speaking words he could not understand. Her tone was soft but stern, reminding him of his mother when she would scold him for his reckless behavior.

He looked into her eyes and even though she was the enemy, Lance sensed she meant no harm.

She slowly and tenderly checked his wounds, both the major injury on his tail and all the small cuts scattered about his body. She spoke in calm, soothing tones as she worked on cleaning the wounds and Lance closed his eyes and tried to think of something more pleasant than the pain, trying his best not to jerk too much when she began stitching him up. His thoughts automatically went to his family but the image of Pidge and Rion only made his heart ache worse than the pain upon his flesh.

Once she finished operating she gave a gentle rubdown of his tail, careful to avoid his injury. Part of him figured he should be repulsed that a human stranger (his enemy no less) was touching him in such a way but it felt too relaxing to protest. When she was done she left him with the parting gift of a large yellowtail placed in front of his face. He watched her leave and wondered how someone so caring could have also been the same people who tore him away from his family. It simply didn't make sense.

The water level rose enough so he was comfortably submerged but still shallow enough that it would be difficult to swim around. Lance didn't mind this because of his injured tail - he didn't want to move if he could avoid it. He indulged himself in the yellowtail and had a restless sleep, his mind running circles through all the possibilities and uncertainties of the current situation.

Lance remained in the shallow water habitat for several quintants while he healed with different humans checking his condition and feeding him. He had a lot of time to think about why they were here and what the humans wanted with them, and he couldn't come up with any conclusions that made any sense. Were they going to be on some display for other humans to see? Were they going to be someone's exotic pets? The humans didn't seem interested in dissecting them for scientific purposes otherwise they wouldn't have bothered with healing Lance first. They wanted them alive, but for what purpose?

The only answer he concluded was that they wanted their Guardian powers. It explained the collars that inhibited their abilities and why they were treated so comfortably. He had to wonder if it were even possible to lose their powers, and if it would consequently kill them.

He continued to worry about them finding Pidge.

He wondered how Orion was handling everything...he was grateful his family was there to look after him but his heart still ached that he would grow up without his father. He thought of all the ways he could possibly escape but every scenario that played out in his head ended in failure. There was no way he could get out on his own without his powers.

In time Lance healed enough that he could swim slowly without it hurting too much, and he was eventually transported to what he assumed was the main tank, large enough to be a cove and filled with all kinds of fish and plant life. Here he was reunited with Hunk, finding Shiro and the Fire Guardian to be there as well. Shiro looked mostly the same with his black and silver scales and purple accents, Sky Guardian mark defined over his heart, but the most noticeable difference was the silver bangs and the metal prosthetic that replaced his right arm.

"I never thought they would be able to catch you, Lance," Shiro greeted remorsefully. "They must have greatly improved their technology since they captured me."

"Is that how you..." Lance moved his eyes to the silver arm. "...how that happened?

"Yeah. They had to injure me enough in order to capture me. Hunk tells me they shot some kind of device into your tail that restrained your powers?"

Lance nodded, hands grasping around his collar. "I'm sure it's the same as these things," he moaned. When he lowered his hands Shiro grasped his right wrist to look at his palm, a giddy smile forming on his lips.

"So you finally bonded with her!"

"Yeah," Hunk chimed in teasingly, "only after deca-phoebs of pining."

"How do you know it's Pidge?" Lance laughed.

"I never said a name," Shiro claimed smugly.

Lance jerked his hand away and diverted his gaze, his cheeks burning as red as the accents on his fins. "We also have a kid, he's almost three deca-phoebs now..." he said sadly, his eyes downcast.

"Oh Lance I'm so sorry..." Shiro placed his flesh hand on Water Guardian's shoulder. "Is your family able to find your kid and take care of him?"

"Yeah, he's at my parents' place. He'll... he'll be fine." In an ideal world Pidge would return home and be able to raise Orion on her own with the help of Lance's family, but deep down he knew Pidge would likely be captured as well. In the back of his mind he wondered if it would be better if Orion were captured too...he couldn't decide if it would be better to be raised in captivity with both his parents or be free and grow up parentless.

All he wanted was his son to be happy.

"So who's the Fire Guardian? He's here, right?" Lance asked.

"Oh yeah, his name is Keith," Hunk answered. "He's probably hiding in that cave over there - he's not much of a talker."

"He's been here since he was a child," Shiro explained, his tone somber. "He's taught me a lot about this place. He can speak the language of the humans, and I've slowly been learning it with his help."

Lance looked over at the cave Hunk mentioned and saw a glimpse of a red-scaled tail with black stripes. He recognized it as the tail he saw in his dreams and started to wonder how much his Guardian intuition was trying to warn him before he was captured. "Do you know why we're here? Why they want us?" he asked, turning to face the black-scaled mer again.

Shiro's lips pressed into a thin line. "I think they just want to study us. At least...that seems to be all they've done so far."

"Study. Really." Lance arched a dubious brow as if he were unimpressed with the Sky Guardian's answer. "Nothing...sinister or malicious or even just... _ weird? _ They've only been  _ studying _ you?"

"Well," Shiro said with a shrug of his shoulders. "We  _ are _ a mysterious species to them."

Lance snorted. "I guess. I was just expecting something more..." He made a skeptical face. "... _ eeeevil." _

Hunk rolled his eyes. "Not everything has to be dramatic, Lance."

A wild concept races across his mind, chest warm with hope at the possibility, and it's out of his mouth before he can really think about it, the image of his son’s tiny arms around his waist pushing out realistic thought, "Do you think they'll release us once they've...studied to their heart's content?"

"I don't know about that," Shiro said. "Keith has been here for most of his life. They might not have any intention of ever letting us go..."

"Yeah, I figured." Lance let out a despondent sigh, arms already cold without a toddler or mate to hug. "Just trying to be optimistic, I guess."

* * *

Movements passed and Lance and Hunk slowly got to know Keith and learn the humans' language. Each of them were occasionally corralled into an adjacent but separate tank for individual assessment and study, but for the most part they were free to roam the habitat provided to them. Lance quickly made friends with the two nurse sharks that cohabited their tank and spent a lot of time on the artificial beach, tail in the water while his torso soaked in the sun's rays. It was the little things that kept him sane and helped distract him from constantly crying over the family he would never see again.

At night he liked to stargaze. His eyes easily found the distinguishable three stars of Orion, the three stars he and Pidge decided resembled the beginnings of their family when she was pregnant and they brainstormed names for their unborn child. He wondered if Pidge could see the stars from wherever she was, homesick for her family too. 

One quintant the humans showed a great interest in his bonded mark. They rubbed substances that tickled his palm and ran all kinds of scans, trying to figure out what it meant. Lance recognized the human word for "Guardian" and "mate" from one of the scientists experimenting on his hand. A sick feeling twisted in his gut and if he had access to his powers he could only imagine his scales would start glowing in anger.

As soon as he was released back to the main habitat, Lance swam over to Keith, his fins flaring as he grabbed him by the shoulders.

"What did you tell them?!"

"What do you mean, 'what did I tell them'??" Keith looked confused but mostly annoyed by Lance’s outburst.

"They knew about my bonded mark! They know about Pidge! I know they're going to be looking for her now and it's all because you  _ spilled  _ to  _ them!" _

"Look, I was just answering Allura's question about the symbol on your palm. It's not like I told them your mate is the Forest Guardian. Would you rather they dissect your hand to figure out what it means?"

Deep down he knows Keith means no harm, but the rage in his heart overcrowds rational thought. "At least that wouldn't have tipped them off about Pidge!!"

"Hey, Lance, calm down," Hunk started as he and Shiro slowly approached the argument. "It's not like Keith is-"

"They're going to find her anyways!" Keith argued with clenched fangs. "Wouldn't you rather be reunited faster with your mate?"

"Not when it means separating her from our  _ child,  _ you goldfish!" Lance snarled.

The frustration builds up in Keith’s face, the insult the trigger for a landslide of defensive anger. "Well maybe they can find your kid too and all of you can be stuck here then!"

Lance snapped and yelled, lunging forward as he and Keith wrestled in the water. Blue and red flashed and shimmered among a flurry of bubbles as they twisted and turned, claws digging into each other and tails thrashing. Hunk and Shiro tried to intervene but Lance and Keith easily smacked them away.

The humans took notice of the fight before too much red started to swirl within the water. They lowered poles into the tank to try and pry Lance and Keith off of each other, dropping a net between them as soon as they were separated. Lance was quickly pulled out of the tank and transported away, his enraged growls dissolving into defeated sobs.

He yearned to hold Pidge and Rion in his arms again but more than anything he wanted to keep them safe, even at the expense of his own happiness. Keith compromised that and all he could think about was his family getting attacked and tangled in cords as the humans stole them from their ocean home.

They addressed his wounds which were only a few nasty cuts - Lance had damaged Keith a lot more with his larger size and more muscular form from traveling the oceans his whole life - then transported him to an isolated tank that was hardly big enough to be considered a bed. He curled up on the floor and stared at his marking that signified he was the Water Guardian...a lot of good his calling did him now that he was stuck in captivity, far away from the very element he was supposed to protect.

What good was he if he couldn't protect the element of his sacred duty let alone his own family?

He failed everyone.

And then one quintant while he was still stuck in isolation, he woke up to find his bonded mark reflected the dark kelp green of his mate's scales. The mark was no longer glowing.

Either Pidge was dead or they found her.

  
  



	3. Rough Seas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allura is frustrated both academically and emotionally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Allura POV! This is just a short interlude we wanted to do to show what's going on with the human side of things.

“Something is bothering you.”

Allura hardly hears her friend, slurping hard on the strawberry milkshake she holds between her hands and the white, plastic picnic table. She and Romelle enjoy their lunch just outside the main building of Altea Institute for Oceanic Research, getting a desperately well needed break after a disastrous morning. Angrily inhaling the last of the frozen concoction, she slams the empty styrofoam container to the side. She then picks up her plastic fork and digs into…

“What... _ is _ this?” Allura moans in distaste, fork wobbling on top of the gelatinous mixture that is supposed to be beef stroganoff. 

Romelle shrugs, taking a sip of her water. “Sal’s cooking hasn’t improved one bit in the last ten years. I tried to warn you,” she says with a disappointed click of the tongue, “but you’re in such a mood right now.” Her friend finishes with such legitimate concern that Allura finally does feel bad for bringing her work troubles to lunch.

All anger washes out as Allura slumps her elbows onto the table and sighs. “I’m sorry, Romelle. This morning turned so awful that I just do not know what to do when I go back to work this afternoon.”

She is saved the need to explain as a small ‘oh’ escapes Romelle’s lips. Apparently word is already out, gossip spreading like wildfire as usual. 

“If I knew why Lance attacked Keith then perhaps I might have something to start on,” Allura continues, “but Zarkon won’t allow me anywhere near Lance for fear he’s rabid and Keith is under anesthesia and I cannot even be by his side as he gets stitched up. Ugh,” she says heavily. “I feel even more useless than usual!”

Romelle’s eyes shift to the blooming branches above them, as she is prone to do when she is unsure. “Have you spoken to Honerva about it?”

“Of course not, she’ll side with Zarkon anyway,” Allura huffs. “How am I to research this Guardianship if I cannot observe how they are Guardians? It’s like I’ve been given a task I can never complete!”

“Maybe start by asking why they’re so unhappy?”

Allura raises a surprised eyebrow at her friend. She knows why the merfolk are unhappy, honestly Allura knows she would feel the same if ripped from her home and placed in a tank. Even Keith, despite growing up alongside him, is lonely. Though he’s always pleased to see her, she is a poor substitute for other merpeople. 

When Shiro had been rescued, Allura was pleased at first for Keith to have another merfolk to interact with. That is, until Shiro learned enough of her language, and she enough of his, that they could speak directly with each other and Allura discovered his rescue was more like a kidnapping. The arrival of Hunk and Lance, the latter with wounds too similar to Shiro’s to be coincidence - and the fact that the lot of them are four out of only five Guardians - has the alarm bells in her mind ringing again. 

What are her step-parents doing to her father’s institute? With each new measure they introduce, she can’t help but feel they are betraying the trust he showed them when he left his legacy in their hands. 

“How do you know they’re unhappy?” Allura asks tentatively, wondering if she’s slipped up in telling anyone that she can speak not just with Keith. 

Romelle rolls her eyes. “I feed them and clean the filters every day,” she says. “I know what animals are feeling by watching their behavior. The mers aren’t like other fish, they have emotions like you and me and they do not swim and eat like they are enjoying themselves.”

Allura is silent for a moment, tapping her carefully manicured fingernails on the white plastic. 

“You’re right,” she finally says. “Who wants to live their life confined like this?”

~~~~~~

Allura arrives at the medical pool early the next day, half of a tuna in hand. She smiles brightly as she enters the examination room and waves in greeting to Ulaz, the head medical doctor at the Institute. Solemn, but kind - out of all the staff that has come on since Honerva took over, he is one of her favorites. 

He stands from his desk full of medical charts, one for each of the merfolk, when he sees her walk towards him. “Good morning, Princess.”

“Good morning, Ulaz,” she says, embarrassed. “Please, isn't that nickname getting a bit old? I’m not a child any longer.”

His stony face is always a bit difficult to discern, but even more so today. “You always will be to most of us who work here.”

Allura blushes, a warmth that extends to her chest. It means so much to be held highly in someone’s heart. “You are too kind,” she settles for saying. “Is Keith awake?”

Ulaz nods to the door that leads to the pool. “He has been awake since I arrived this morning. Please get him to eat something other than goldfish food.”

Allura can’t help but snort. The dry flakes that they use to feed the fish in the front lobby have been Keith’s vice ever since her father introduced him to them when he was a child - it’s like a comfort snack to him now.

She walks past the examination table and through the glass door to find that Keith is indeed awake, resting in the shallow healing pool. It’s a poor substitute for the main pool, where great efforts were made to make it seem like a natural cove. Here it is completely inside, the fluorescent lights hardly as good as the natural sunlight. Allura sets the tuna down in front of him and plops down in the water beside him.

Keith lazily eyes first the tuna, then her, before closing his eyes and sighing. “Lance was mad about us talking.”

“We’ve been talking ever since I could ride a bicycle to get here on my own,” Allura agrees. “It’s been months, and you said he was more sorrowful about missing his mate.”

She gets her answer as soon as Keith looks away and slumps, face half submerged. “I...shouldn’t say anything,” he says, voice distorted under the water. “He’ll hate me even more than he does now.”

“I’d suspected it was,” Allura nods sadly. There is a sharp pain of regret in her heart that her questions have led to Keith being further distanced from one of his own. He’d always tell her that she’s the only friend he needs, but his eyes tell a different story, the one that he longs to befriend other merfolk, to know the culture of the people that he is every bit a part of. This setback with Lance is hurting him more deeply than he wants to admit, so she changes the subject. “How are you feeling?”

“Could be better,” he admits. “But I’ll live.” A pause, then a hesitant, “What did they do with Lance?”

“He’s in isolation right now. Once you are fully healed and comfortable I hope they’ll put him back in the cove.”

“You hope? You don’t know if they will?” Keith frets. “Allura, you know how much I hated that place when I was a kid, what do you think it’s doing to an adult?”

“But what if he hurts you again?” Allura counters. Curse him for caring so much so quickly after getting hurt. “You are my friend, Keith. I’m concerned for your safety.”

“I deserved it!” Keith spits hotly, so much so that Allura swears she sees fire in his eyes, water splashing about as he sits up. “He has a  _ son _ , Allura,” he emphasizes, “and now whoever is out there catching merfolk is going to be out looking for the rest of his family!” The flame diminishes as quickly as it appeared, his voice a cracked whisper, “and it's all my fault.”

Guilt of her own pools in her stomach. All these years she assumes Keith is here because there is no way for him to survive in the ocean alone, that Shiro was brought in to be rehabilitated. Her assumptions now fall apart as the reality of their captivity becomes clearer and clearer. 

Zarkon and Honerva are collecting merfolk whether it’s beneficial to the ocean dwellers or not. 

“I share some of the guilt,” she confides. “You trust me with information about your people and I turn it into a footnote for my research. I swear I will not tell anyone about Lance’s family.”

Keith settles back into the water, a defeated look on his face. “It might be too late.”

Allura chews on her lip as she remains silent by Keith’s side. The frustration of not being able to keep her friend safe swells among the anger and sadness of their captivity - until she can stand it no longer. “Keith...would you ever want to leave this place? To be out in the open ocean and live for yourself?”

He’s quiet for a long minute, as if considering his answer. Allura hates that he’s as conflicted as he is. He is her oldest friend, and a large hole in her heart will be in need of filling if he were to leave. Beautiful, bright red scales curl around her in what she knows is Keith’s shy way of showing affection.

“If you’d asked me a couple years ago, I’d have said no,” Keith says. “I like you and Romelle and Shay and a lot of the others. Your dad did so much for me after mine died I…” He gulps. “I didn’t know anyone out there.

“But now I know Shiro. And that I’m supposed to be this guardian of fire or something,” he continues, leaning over to view the bright red scales of the birthmark on his right arm. “I just get the feeling I’m not supposed to be here.”

Her heart hurts but Allura knows what she needs to do. 

~~~~~

Allura takes a deep breath, curling strands of her long white hair behind her ear - a strange genetic anomaly she inherited from her father - before she knocks on the mahogany door. The plaque to the right that says “Institute Head: Honerva Daibazaal,” still sends shivers down her spine. Though her father has been dead for many years, it feels like his name still needs to be there instead. 

“Come in,” says the terse voice from beyond the door. 

Carefully opening the door, Allura leaves only enough space for her to slip inside before closing it once more. Honerva likes her privacy.

The woman herself never bothers to look up from her work, a mountain of papers on either side of the large desk she sits at. What was once a cheery office filled wall to ceiling with books and knick knacks from world travels is now gloomy and littered with containers of odd amber liquid and intricate maps, all with dark red markings of circles and X’s over waterways from around the globe.

Allura used to think nothing of it, this was a place dedicated to the study of oceans and the creatures who lived in it. 

Now it looks more like hunting merfolk.

“Allura.”

She jumps at the sound of her name. Honerva looks up only so slightly from her work before signing her name on yet another document. “Why are you not with the mer creatures?”

Allura fiddles with her bracelet, doing only so much to ease the nervousness she’s felt around Honerva since she was a little girl. Her father always had beautiful things to say of her - a brilliant and enthusiastic scientist, but Allura wonders if that was a different Honerva, because the one she knows now is distant and stern. 

“I just came from there,” she begins as if reciting a report, but her personal attachment to the Institute’s prized guests derails into something more perky. “Keith is nearly healed! He’ll be able to return to the main pool tomorrow. The best medicine for him at this point is fresh air, and he can always travel to the indoor side of the pool through the caves.”

“Very good. And the others?”

“Shiro and Hunk are somber and worried, but are doing well. Lance is still in isolation,” she continues carefully, “but he’s been docile. I think we should move him back with the others as well. He’s lonely.” 

Honerva doesn’t stop writing. “That is the Water Guardian?”

Allura cups her hands behind her back. “Yes...and speaking of Lance...I have another request, based on my professional opinion.”

At this, Honerva finally looks up. “Your professional opinion? Allura, you’ve yet to finish your Masters thesis.”

“Yes, I am aware,” she hurriedly says. Finishing a bachelor’s degree is high praise for most, but in the shadow of the PhD of both her father and Honerva, Allura has much work to do. “But I’ve spent my childhood with Keith, and more hours with Shiro than any scientist here.”

Honerva scowls. “Out with it, then.”

Allura beams, at least she is listening. “I want to release Lance back to the ocean.”

She isn’t prepared for the heavy silence that follows, the way it makes the air ill and sticky.

“No.”

That is the answer Allura expected, but one that she does not intend to take.

“I insist,” she says sternly. “There is no reason for him to be here. He is sad and angry. He has a  _ family _ that we _ took him from _ . We keep them like pets when they are just as cognitive as we are and--”

Honerva slams the pen to the desk with such force that Allura winces.

“I have asked you to study the Guardians so that you understand the dangerous powers that they possess,” Honerva says slowly. “This...Lance...has the ability to control all water. You have seen his temper - for one being to have that kind of power,” Honerva shakes her head, “that creature can level cities if the mood suits him.” As if nothing had happened, she continues on with her paperwork. “So no, we will not be releasing him. Or the others. Ever.”

What hope Allura had to help her friends is nearly gone. Her mind whirls with arguments, if she can just show Honerva how miserable they are, that life has been fine with them out in the open ocean. Without Honerva’s approval, Allura can do nothing but speak with the merfolk...and relay the bad news.

Honerva’s cell phone rings, a gloomy piece from Orpheus and the Underworld. She answers, now totally ignoring Allura who still stands in shock and wonders what to do next.

“Yes?” Honerva says curtly. As the person on the other end speaks, the woman’s eyes widen, a smile of delight on her face that Allura knows will never be directed towards her. “Yes, well done Captain Sendak. It seems you’ll be up for Employee of the Year once more. Call when you are closer to the dock, I will greet you personally.” 

She hangs up, and still not addressing Allura, makes another call. “Macedus. Clear my schedule today, I want no interruptions.” 

It is only after she hangs up with her secretary that Honerva smiles at Allura, though it is hardly a kind one. “Clear whatever plans you had after work, we have a very special arrival coming.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter with Pidge POV will be up this weekend! Just tying off a last scene and then I'll turn it over to Ivy for some Lance reaction, because I know you'll be desperate for it by the end of it :)


	4. Red Sun Rises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you have tissues.

“Katie, please,” her mother begs, running a soothing hand through her hair like she used to do when she was a child. Even though she is a mother herself now, Pidge finds the presence of her own calming. “At least until the hurricane season is over and the waters will be safer.”

Pidge hums, lounging on the ruins of an ancient human civilization, exhausted after yet another long day of wrangling kelp, urging it to grow between the ruins, and telling it that will be safe and fruitful to do so. Her tail is too sore from darting and weaving among the kelp, unable to muster up the energy to even join Matt and their father studying the ruins to glean what they can about human progress. Despite having a job she loves, a sacred duty at that, she has always loved learning. The duty the rest of her family has is nearly as important as her own - the more merfolk know of humans, the more likely her people can avoid them. 

The day Sam Holt asked Guardian Shiro to create a storm to provide cover for an excursion to the surface for that very reason was the day she nearly lost them -  _ did _ lose Shiro. 

Just a few more hours. As much as Pidge has sorely missed her birth family, she misses the one of her own making even more fiercely as time rolls on. It’s been too many moons since she’s seen her son.

“I need to get home,” Pidge says wearily. She barely opens her heavy eyes, lazily watching schools of fish swim by. 

Her mother places a gentle kiss to her forehead. “And you will be of no use to them if you cannot make the journey back. The colonies in the mid-Atlantic will not have the resources to harbor you for long if you need to rest. Rest here, with us,” she pleads. 

Pidge can’t even argue, feeling ache in every muscle. Lance will be worried, she knows, but he has their Bonded mark and if nothing else he will know she is alive. 

She sighs heavily, nose twitching in frustration. “Fine, I’ll stay.” 

There’s nothing quite like a hug from her mother, warm and comforting, like she can cocoon herself against the world. 

But now it only makes her stingingly aware that her own son is missing that same comfort right now.

~~~~~~

That’s why Pidge forces herself to take it easy for the next moon, even though she has been gone so much longer than she means already. Fully healed and energized, she can move faster across the ocean. 

“Give our love to Lance and Orion,” her father says as he hugs her goodbye. “I swear one day we will come visit - nay move out there with you.”

Pidge sighs into the crook of his neck, despite wanting to leave...she also does not want to leave. “As soon as Rion is strong enough we’ll visit every growing season,” she promises. 

“I’m holding you to that,” Matt says as he sneaks in for his own hug. Pidge can’t stop the grin on her face as her cheeks squish against his shoulder. “I finally have a brother and I never get to see him! How am I supposed to spoil my nephew if I can’t see him either?”

“You have a perfectly good sister right here, Dork,” she teases. 

Matt trades places with their mother, and Pidge basks in her gentle and secure hold. “We love you so much. There are so many up and coming archeologists, maybe our move will be sooner than we hope.”

Pidge blushes in delight at the thought of her entire family being together, both her new one in Lance’s side and the one the two of them have made for themselves. It will be a dream come true and a day to look forward to. 

“I can’t wait,” she says as she snuggles once more in her mother’s arms. 

As much as Pidge hates it, it is time.

Gently she ducks out of the hug and with a flick of her tail, glides away from the circle of her family. 

“I’ll see you soon,” she says with a wave, heart missing their embrace and company already. “Lance and his family can’t wait to see you again either!”

“Tell Lance he has to let you teach Rion the Holt maneuver!” Matt teases. Pidge snorts, she’ll teach her son the best way to find human artefacts with or without Lance’s permission - more than likely Lance will want to learn himself anyway. 

“Take the currents and tell Mitch he’s overdue for a rest when you pass him!”

“Yes, Dad!”

“And stay away from the icebergs, Katie, you’ll freeze your tail off!”

“Mom! I’ll be fine! Stay safe!” she calls. When the last syllable leaves her lips, she turns and kicks off. No use spending too long with the goodbyes, she has other loved ones who need her more right now. Refreshed from the extra time she took to rest, Pidge hopes to make it to the Straight by the end of the day and stay with the Marine Field Examination team that Iverson runs. Their business is to know all that is going on in the ocean, so if anything has happened, she will know about it. 

Laziness of the past moon has weakened her muscles only just. It takes extra effort, but Pidge is determined to make it to her chosen spot on time. She looks forward to a fresh meal and soft bed. 

The watchful eyes of Ryan and Ina greet her as she glides into their range. Ryan gently takes her hand and swims her the remainder of the way to the colony center. They swim carefully through a minefield of bubbles, all playing out scenes of the past from around the ocean - the Archive. If anything of interest happens in the ocean, this colony knows of it.

“Was the harvest successful Guardian Pidge?” Ina asks on their way.

“Long, this deca-pheob,” Pidge admits once she has caught her breath. “They were super stubborn for some reason.” She sighs, content the first leg of her journey is over. “I’m just glad to be going home.”

Ryan leads her to one of the empty sand beds. At nearly the same time, Nadia zooms in and cuddles into a tight hug. 

“It’s good to see you, Pidge! We’ve been worried!”

Pidge frowns immediately as she gently pushes Nadia off of her. “Worried?” An awful feeling settles in her gut. “That I took so long in the Mediterranean?”

“More than that,” James says as he approaches last, handing her a struggling fish for supper. “The waters have been behaving oddly of late and it’s been upsetting our magic. Even Ina hasn’t been able to get the scope to work properly for almost a moon now.”

“We have no idea what’s happening across the ocean anymore,” Nadia continues, looking sadly over to Ryan. Pidge feels for him, documenting the wonders of the ocean is his passion. To not be able to do what he loves must be cutting him deep. 

But also… “Shouldn’t Lance be taking care of that?” Pidge wonders. “He’s usually on top of any kind of disturbance. Rion has plenty of people to care for him...”

“The plates have been more erratic of late as well,” Ina reports. “And the Hawaiian chain is eighty-nine percent contained.”

That means more earthquakes along the floor causing tsunamis and the volcanoes are not producing land, upsetting the balance of land and sea. Lance and Hunk have always combined their powers to handle the volcanoes and influence weather patterns in the absence of Shiro and the Fire Guardian.

Now...it's as if she’s the only one left. 

She swallows thicky, crunching the bones of the fish in anticipation. “Have you searched the Archive for why?”

“Approximately sixty-seven percent of the Archive has been searched,” Ina replies, catching a bubble that floats by. In it Pidge can see the magical recording of the humpback whale migration. “We have not yet found an answer.”

“We’ve been looking all day and all night, all four of us,” Nadia complains with a slump of her shoulders. “We’re all tired - but we’ll figure it out I swear!” 

Pidge digs her claws past the scales of the fish. She’s so hungry...but now she is so sick with worry she cannot eat. “I need to get home,” she says, rising from the sandy bed. “You all keep working, I’m going to the source.”

“Guar-Pidge you have been swimming all day,” James protests. “You need to rest, Guardian or no.” 

“Lance and Hunk could be missing just like Shiro and the Fire Guardian,” she insists. “If that’s the case the ocean is in trouble and--” Pidge gulps, this is her mate and her friend, dear Ancients she prays Orion is safe. “Thank you for the meal,” she says properly. “I’ll eat and swim.”

“Pidge!”

“Guardian!”

She swims away, putting the Archive and water between her and her friends. The swim across the Atlantic is long...but she will make it in record time.

She has to know if Lance is okay.

~~~~~~

The rain is warm and normally is soothing against the skin on her back. Tonight though, it feels like a thousand pinpricks and Pidge is far too exhausted to slip back into the ocean from her sandy cay. 

Humans have Lance. And Hunk. 

She is the only free Guardian left. 

Pidge is so sad, heart hurting every time she draws breath. He promised, promised she’d never feel lonely again. She’d believed him, knowing how much he yearned for someone else to understand his role as a Guardian. She promised she would, and he promised to do the same for her. Now not only is she truly alone in her role, with an insurmountable task to cover what her missing colleagues cannot…

She is without a mate, and without a father for her son. And that hurts more. 

A near silent splash alerts her to a new presence, and the way Orion clumsily tumbles onto the sand next to her tells her it’s her son before she sees him. He grabs hold of her arm and cuddles as close as he can next to her, without a sound. 

Until the sniffles come.

Pidge isn’t yet finished with her own tears, but she wraps her arm around her son, marveling at how much he’s grown in the six moons she’s been gone. She kisses his head. 

He only inches closer. “Dun leave,” he cries. 

“Oh, my little pearl,” she says into his hair. “I’m so sorry.”

“I never be bad again!” he promises in tears. 

It kills her to see him like this, thinking his father left because he was being bad when it is so far from the truth. “Daddy didn’t go because you were bad. Bad people took him from you.”

“He said he would be there when I stopped sleeping.”

There isn’t anything she can say to that. Nothing but a desperate, “I’m so sorry. He loves you, I promise we both love you so much.” 

Orion sniffles and cries and hiccups and sobs in the same ugly way Pidge had not a few vargo ago. She still feels like crying, and she will once her son is safely back with his grandmother. 

Pidge has so much she needs to do, and the algae isn’t even pulsing in her mind for attention and care. 

As much as she hates it, Orion cannot stay home with her and she cannot stay with Lance’s family. With no other confirmed merfolk kidnappings aside of the unsuccessful one of her father and brother, only that of three Guardians, causes Pidge’s mind to work in overdrive. If humans are targeting the Guardians, it means a few unsettling things. One, that she is definitely next and Orion can absolutely not be with her if and when that happens. Secondly, and perhaps even more worryingly…

Humans know about the Guardians. 

The conjecture unsettles her stomach and makes her hold fast to her son. For what purpose do they want the Guardians? She wonders if this is the reason the Fire Guardian has never been found, mind going wild with horrors of captivity that have befallen Lance and her friends.

If they were dead, a newborn would have appeared with the Guardian’s mark, and that hasn’t happened yet, never has with the fire mark at least, so Pidge reasonably concludes they are all alive.

But are they comfortable? Are they sane? Are they hurt? The questions swirl around in her mind, the unknown terrifying her even more than usual now that it involves those she loves. 

“Is Daddy coming back?” Orion mumbles. 

“Yes,” Pidge says resolutely before she can think. She has no plan and she doesn’t even know where they are being kept, but she will bring them home, just as she promised Lance she would. “I will take him back from the bad guys and bring him home.”

“I’ll bite them!” Orion agrees. 

Pidge chuckles despite herself and kisses his forehead, warmed to see a smile on his face finally through the river of tears. “That’ll show ‘em,” she encourages teasingly. “I love you so much.”

He is quiet for a moment, before flapping his finds against her tail, adjusting his body on the sand. “Love you too, Mommy.”

Pidge hopes it will not be the last time she hears it.

~~~~~

“I’m leaving to search for Lance.”

Pidge floats before most of Lance’s family, her young niece and nephew-in-law occupied by the baby nurse sharks hanging around the ship. The mood is somber, and Orion holds her hand even tighter. 

“Katie, please. Stay,” his mother begs, sounding so much like her own. “We could not bear it to lose you as well. You cannot fight them on boat and land.”

“I’ll help,” Veronica says, her steely blue eyes stern. She flicks her tail, made for speed just like Lance’s, just like their entire family. “You’ll cover more water that way.”

“Me too,” chimes in Rachel. 

“Same. Not letting my little bro suffer if I can help it,” Luis says.

Pidge wants to say no, not wanting to risk Lance’s family for something she can do herself, but before she can do so, Marco speaks.

“The house and hunting will be in good hands,” he says. “Mom and Dad aren’t slouches either. Orion will be safe.”

She desperately needed to hear that. 

“Okay,” she concedes, a relieved smile on her face. She will not be alone. “Thank you.”

“I’ll take the remainder of the Atlantic,” Veronica says. “The MFEs might have found important information in the Archive by now and I’m the fastest.” She nods to her siblings. “Rachel and Luis can take the Pacific. There are settlements all over the Indian ocean - we’ll find him.”

Pidge nods in agreement, she’s not built for speed and she’ll be able to comb the waters of the Caribbean. “We will,” she says confidently, then softens, “please be safe.”

Each of the siblings takes a turn hugging their family, Pidge turns to Orion. 

“I’ll help, I’m fast!” he says enthusiastically. “I can bite!”

She tries to laugh but the motherly worry shuts that down all too quickly. “No Baby Shark, not today. You stay and keep an eye on your cousins.”

His lip turns over as he begins to pout. “I’m not a baby!” he insists. 

“Oh I’m sorry,” Pidge says lightly, both amused and warmed at the same time. “You grew up while I was gone. It’s even more important you look after your grandma.”

Orion looks at her with untrusting eyes. 

“You’ll get all the squid you want,” she bribes. “If you go with me, you’ll be stuck eating rockfish,” she ends with a disgusting look on her face to dissuade him. 

It predictably works, though not as well as she hopes. His eyes light up in fear and his face squishes together, tongue out...but he makes no move to leave her side. 

“You’ll come home? Promise?”

His big brown eyes, so much like her own, stare back at her with such yearning - begging - that her heart pounds with guilt. She has no idea if this is a promise she can keep.

“I promise,” she starts, “that we will all be home together one day. Your father will teach you how to hunt and I will take you looking for human artefacts. Just please, stay with your grandma.”

Orion’s lip wobbles and his hands shake, zooming in for a tight hug. “I’m scared. I missed you so much.”

Pidge sighs and holds him against her, his leaner arms wrapping all the way around her waist now - he really has grown. She wants nothing more than to get started looking, she’s already wasted precious days preparing for this trip.

But besides being a Guardian and a mate, she is a mother. Her son is suffering, and it is within her control to make him less miserable. 

With a deep sigh, she strokes her claws lightly against the scales on his back in a soothing motion. She looks up to see the goodbyes of Lance’s family. 

Veronica turns and nods at her with a smile as her siblings take off. “Take what time you need,” she says in clear understanding of Orion’s feelings, “we’ll get started.”

“Thank you,” Pidge tells her gratefully, relief flooding through her veins. 

Turning back to her son, she kisses his head. “How would you like to help Mommy look for one day? You have to promise to stay close to me, okay?”

With a tight squeeze and a wiggle of his tail, Pidge has her answer. 

~~~~~~

Pidge is less looking for clues and more watching Orion play detective. Lazily she swims after him, keeping a sharp eye out for any danger while he looks under every nook and cranny for his father. It actually hurts, seeing him so enthusiastic and optimistic about finding his father under a ray, when Pidge knows it is far from the truth. 

The midday sun pierces through the reef, creating a beautiful shimmer in the water. Orion won’t notice, but Pidge’s Guardian eye is trained to see the algae growing near the surface, clinging to human waste. It twists an anxious knot in her stomach - they must be close to a human settlement if their goods have washed out this far.

“Rion, stay close, okay?” she calls down to him.

“Okay!” he calls back, his attention entirely focused on the lobster crawling along the sea floor, asking it if it knew where his father was.

The algae gives her a blessed distraction from the guilt of knowing it won’t work. It pokes at her mind, asking to grow and spread into the ocean proper, to properly feed the fish that rely on it. 

Pidge obliges, letting the free energy from the sun guide her powers towards the algae. She closes her eyes, letting the strength of growth flower through her fingertips, the mark on her arm warming her as if the sun hits it directly while lying on the beach. 

It feels good to be using her powers, effortless in the beautiful sunny day above the surface of the water. To be completely in control of the situation finally gives her peace and confidence that she can complete her mission. She strings the algae down towards the coral so that new batches can develop naturally. 

Opening her eyes briefly, she smiles seeing Orion catching a ride with a great white shark, who seems content with its passenger giggling maniacally. The shark won’t dare hurt him, not with her in the vicinity. This is their day together, but if she must work, the least she can do is make sure he’s having fun. 

She feels the influx of algae before she hears the motor of the boat. 

“Rion!” she yells, eyes flying open and scanning the water frantically for him. The algae from the bottom of the boat whines, begging for her attention to be detached from the human vessel and be useful in the sea. Pidge pays it no mind, even as the headache grows from shirking her duties. She is far more concerned for her son.

Her heart seizes in fear, paralyzed as she takes in the fact that Orion is swimming towards the boat. She told him the humans have his father. He’s going to see if he’s there.

“Rion!” she shrieks. With a slap of her tail she sprints towards him as fast as her finds can take her. “Rion get away from that!” 

But like in her worst fears, he doesn’t stop. “I’m getting Daddy!” he calls back.

Just like the day Shiro was taken - different words, same situation.

Her headache worsens, blurring her vision as she approaches the boat, the algae screaming in her mind to do something about unsticking them to the boat. Pidge catches up to her son in desperation, grabs his tail. “Rion, do not touch that. It’s dangerous. Go ho--” 

Pidge gasps as her headache suddenly disappears. No longer can she hear the algae, or even the nearby mangrove trees or kelp forest. The strange sensation of being...it’s almost as if she’s been cut off from her powers, is replaced by a sharp pain in her tail. She turns as if slower than life, and there she sees the human spear embedded in her scales, blood already suspended in the water.

In both her heart and mind, she knows these are the same people who took her mate, took her friends, and tried to steal her father and brother.

This is how they took Shiro, Hunk, Lance, and whomever the Fire Guardian is. And it's how they are going to take her as well.

And her son if she can’t do anything about it.

Every logical brain cell switches over to her emotional response. She turns back and yanks her son further from the boat and flings him further as far into the ocean as she can. It’s timely, as a weighty net descends around her. 

“Go home!” she yells from the other side of the thick rope of the net, grabbing it for some false sense of security and to see what she is up against. “Tell Grandma what happened! Hurry!”

The net circles around her, catching and twisting around her fins. Pidge is more concerned at the conflicted look on her son’s face and the fact that he does not move like she tells him to. 

“Rion, now!” she screams in horror at his possible capture.

Her heart goes in her throat when he swims towards her. “Mommy!”

“No, Rion, please. Get away,” she begs. Never has she been more afraid than she is now with her son’s life or freedom on the line. 

He tries to hold onto her, and it kills her soul to reject him, pushing his arms off of her. “If you don’t leave they’re going to get you too. Rion please, I’ll bring your father back I promise.”

“No, Mommy!” he says stubbornly. For the first time, Pidge really hates that he got that from both of his parents. 

The net lifts up and Rion refuses to quit trying to grab on to her. The harsh reality begins to sit in that these humans are going to take her son, and possibly take him from her too. It still does not prepare her for the large human hand that breaks the surface of the water and grabs Rion’s arm. 

Past the point of fear and panic for herself, she snarls and bites on the hand as hard as she can, snagging a mouthful of thick rope in the process. It draws blood and the hand drops Orion. Now her son finally looks terrified, but like she’d been not long ago, he’s frozen in fear. 

“Go to Grandma, please Rion, ple--” Pidge chokes as the water around her grows purple. Poison. 

Orion coughs, eyes droopy as he lifts his head for more oxygen to reach his gills, drawing deep and labored breaths. Pidge watches in horror as his eyes close and his head rolls back, descending unconsciously to the sea floor.

Pidge must make a decision. Let her son go free, unknowing if he will receive prompt medical attention for the poison with Lance’s family assuming he’s with her and a great white so near…

Or hold onto him as she’s captured by humans, not knowing what they plan to do with her, or him. 

Her instincts, maternal or otherwise, grab his tail as he tilts upside down, quickly bringing him to her chest as the net lifts, the thick and itchy ropes horribly in between them. 

Pidge wants to cry for how the worst possible scenario has happened. 

Orion breathes heavily as they break the surface, Pidge scrambling to think of how she’s going to convey to these awful humans that she will do whatever they want just as long as they heal her son. 

Sunlight shines off a part of the metal boat, making it difficult to see her captors. One stands watch, doing nothing as others haul her to the deck. Though she can’t see but a silhouette, it feels like a cruel face. 

Her arms ache, and at any moment she can drop Orion back into the water and pray for the best. She watches for any sign of movement below the surface, that perhaps anyone might have followed them, someone who can take him away from this fate. 

But no one comes and his head lulls back, still breathing but with some struggle. Pidge coughs herself, the amount of poison she has inhaled is enough to bring back the headache - one without the algae poking and prodding. Her mind goes in every direction, worry for Orion, pondering what the humans will do, fear for both, and a blessing that the headache redirects her thoughts away from her injured tail. 

Even when dropped onto the deck and yelling in pain at the aggravation of her wound, she refuses to let go of her son.  _ Please let them see he’s my son. Please let them have a shred of mercy.  _

Heavy boots crowd around her. Though she can’t understand their dialect, it’s easy to recognize the cruel edge to their laughter. 

Pidge curls in on Orion more, injured tail around him in a protective half circle. It serves another purpose as Pidge grits her teeth - to build up energy to hit any human who will try and take her son from her. 

A shiver runs down her spine as one of the humans approaches her from behind. Pidge wishes to claw and bite at them, but Orion takes precedence. So she wills her body to remain still as smooth metal is secured around her neck. Her gut turns in illness - like some sort of pet. 

The humans approach from the front with another collar. Pidge adjusts her grip on her son, growling. “Don’t you dare,” she says, even though they can’t understand her. 

A searing, white hot pain erupts from her tail. Pidge yells from agony. Though it only lasts but a tic, it's long enough for her son to be taken from her weakened arms. 

“No!” she screeches, clawing towards the human who now holds him, placing the same metal contraption around his neck that is around hers. “He’s sick, don’t-don’t hurt him!” She’s unable to get far, one human keeps a boot on her tail, keeping it in place as he throws the bloody spear to the side. 

There is laughter again, one human mockingly cooing over her son. Pidge knows the joke is on her, looking all but useless and out of her element. She knows she shouldn’t feel shame, but it's there, the same as the anger that finally overwhelms her, uninhibited now that she no longer has someone in her arms to protect. 

Her claws are sharp and her tail is stronger than they know.

But before she can lurch forward, ignore the pain and get her child back, a hand rests on her shoulder, and a soft male voice in her own tongue, 

“You’ll both be kept alive and receive medical treatment. Do not give them more reason to hurt either of you.”

The shock of hearing discernible words above water, and the meaning behind them, deflates all anger and desperation out of her. Pidge slumps to the deck, though watching the humans pass her son around between them fills her with anxiety as she peers through the rectangular holes of the net. 

At the same time, she can feel the small amount of poison she’s inhaled taking its toll on her. Not only does she feel weak, but also sick and her mind hazy. 

A needle pricks her arm, connected to a canister full of amber liquid. The liquid disappears and is then taken out of her arm. Pidge barely has the time or energy to see one of the humans do the same to Rion. 

The medical treatment - she hopes.

Her heart is full of hate, how anyone could do this to another living being beyond her. Once with Shiro may be an accident. Twice with Lance and Hunk is coincidence. Three times with her…

That’s deliberate. 

A panel on the deck is removed and Pidge is dragged over to it, the net both gently and roughly in parts torn away from her as she drops head first into the hole and into an area of water. She’s caught by a soft cloth that hangs not even a tail length from the entrance. It’s strange breathing with the collar over her gills, but not suffocating. And it’s a relief to have the weight of her injured tail supported. 

Even more of a weight of her heart is that Orion is released into her arms shortly after. The entrance closes, cutting off the sunlight and introducing her to the darkness of captivity. 

Pidge pays it no mind, instead inspecting her son for injuries. He breathes better already and there is blessedly no cut on his skin or scales. 

“I’m so, so sorry,” Pidge cries. She holds him close and mourns, at the same time shaking in rage and grinding her teeth in determination. 

She has a promise to keep. 

~~~~~~

“I’m hungry.”

Pidge lazily opens her eyes, feeling more exhausted now than from her trip across the Atlantic. Drugged, she figures. Sighing lightly, she shifts in her human-made cloth bed to better see her son. 

Orion snuggles at the end of her tail, his fifth move since waking up. He seems in decent spirits despite it all, not as drugged as she is and poison cured, but far more snuggly than usual. 

“I don’t have anything to eat,” Pidge tells him regretfully. If he were younger, she’d still have milk to give him, but he is far past that stage of his life. 

Predictably he moans and Pidge can hear his stomach growling. There is no way to tell time in their prison, cut off from the sun and given no meals. To keep her weak, Pidge reasons spitefully. He tries to scratch at his neck, the collar around it clearly making him uncomfortable.

“Don’t scratch, you’ll hurt your gills,” Pidge says for what feels like the hundredth time. 

Orion scrunches his face into annoyance and huffs as he cuddles against her tail. “When can we see Daddy?”

Pidge winces. “I don’t know,” she says honestly. Her gut says these are the same people, her logic says these are the same people, but a little voice in her head whispers that it isn’t, and she’ll never see Lance again. It terrifies her, right next to having Orion be taken away. 

Orion wiggles his tail in agitation, brushing up against her scales. It brings the slightest smile to Pidge’s face to see him still doing his little habits. “I’m bored. Can we go to Grandma’s?”

“Rion,” she starts slowly, hating that she has to have this conversation with her son. “Do you remember the net? And the scary hand?”

He flicks a gaze her way and it's evident in his eyes that he does, just a tiny amount of fear in them. “No,” he says instead, looking away.

“The bad people won’t let us go home,” Pidge tells him. “We have to go where they take us.”

Quick as a marlin, Rion has tears in his eyes. “I dun want to!” he protests.

In her lethargic state, Pidge forces herself to sit up and roll back over so that she can hold her son. “I’m sorry,” she says softly. She can feel a tantrum of his coming on, and Pidge prefers Orion be sleeping when the humans finally open the door to their prison. 

“Rion, can you listen to Mommy really closely?” she says soothingly.

He snuggles close, tiny hands playing with the scales on her belly. “Yeah,” he agrees, though his demeanor is depressingly quiet. Though he’s always been clingy to her and Lance, usually Orion is much more lively than this.

Pidge sighs, closing her eyes as she shifts her weight, rocking the suspended bed like she used to do when he was a baby. “These are bad humans, they are…” Pidge struggles with how exactly to explain this to one so young, “They are taking us to a new home,” she settles on saying. 

“I dun wan a new home,” Orion argues, hiding his face against her chest.

“I don’t either,” Pidge assures him, idly stroking the fast growing hairs at the back of his head. He looks so much like his uncle Matt with longer hair. Pidge nearly chokes at the thought of never seeing him or her parents again. “It’s okay to be scared,” she continues. “New things are scary, and so are the bad people. But,” she smiles, not even needing to force it through their hopeless situation because Pidge truly means what she says, “I love you no matter what might happen.”

Footsteps congregate on the metal above them. Pidge curls Orion under her, back facing the entrance, head turned to keep an eye on whatever is about to happen. 

It is dark and Pidge can barely make out the stars in the sky past the hulking figures above her. With how hungry she is herself, it could be the same day of their capture, or another full day. Her heart thumps in fear when she realizes the figures are getting closer though she isn’t moving at all. The sling is rising, she realizes, quickly observing the cloth becoming more and more taut. 

Large hands reach down for her shoulders and she hisses, baring her teeth and daring them to get closer. 

Light brighter than the sun shines into her face with a clicking noise as her only warning. Pidge yelps and looks away, eyes burning from the sensory overload. 

The humans take their opportunity, lifting her onto the deck, Orion still in her arms. He squirms and Pidge quietly pleads for him to remain still. “Do exactly what I say, please, Rion. I love you so much.”

Rather than the metal of the deck, there is a long strip of cloth identical to the one she’s laid on in their underwater prison. It hardly provides any comfort but Pidge knows that isn’t the point - it's for transport, if she’s understanding its function correctly.

Soft human chatter drags on for too long for Pidge’s liking. Orion follows her instructions to remain still, clinging to her like a remora. Pidge surveys their surroundings as her eyes adjust to the darkness. Over the side of the large vessel, she can see open water. Land on either side creates a harbor with a waterway to what she thinks - hopes - is the open ocean. 

Maybe they aren’t doomed yet. 

“Rion,” she says softly, urgently, “do you remember how to find your way home?”

His eyes are bright and uncertain. “Dun leave - you promised!”

Pidge’s heart thumps wildly as she soothes him with a gentle but firm, “shhh.” Soon there may be no choice, he may be forced to.

Two more slender figures approach, the shorter of the two with long white hair that reflects off the moon. It’s just enough light that Pidge sees the horror and guilt on her face. The woman approaches along with several of the larger humans, trapping Pidge from her plan to throw Orion over the side of the boat. 

Maybe it is for the best, Orion won’t be able to outrun these hunters at his age - not with the way they efficiently captured her and the other Guardians, nor can she escape, tail injured as it is.

The white-haired woman kneels before her, speaking with a quiet and apologetic tone. Pidge has never seen this human before and is on edge about the proximity between them...yet, she overflows with familiarity and kindness. Pidge can only aliken it to the feeling she has when she arrives in places where the plants recognize her by Pidge and not just the Forest Guardian. 

She still hides Orion when the woman reaches out to touch her. 

Instead of putting a hand anywhere near her son, the woman examines Pidge’s tail. Speaking matter-of-factly in a human dialect, she stands and backs away. Pidge breathes in relief for only a moment.

A curt order is given by another human and the crew of the boat pick up both ends of the sling that Pidge lies on. She holds Orion close as he murmurs in fear, so that he does not fall off. 

Pidge keeps a close eye on their walk. From the metal boat there is a long walk down the wooden boardwalk. They head towards a giant building, but stop before they get anywhere near the entrance.

There is a giant pool, a poor imitation of a natural cove with a beach half filled with palm trees and jagged rock formations all over one side of the water. It comes up against a giant glass wall of the largest building and stops abruptly. The water extends inside, Pidge realizes.

It then hits her; this is their final destination, their new home - their prison.

She kisses Orion on the top of his head, exhausted and ready to sleep secure in the knowledge they’ll at least be together. 

The cloth sling is gently lowered to the edge of the pool. Before hands can grab at him, Pidge loosens her hold. “I’ll be right behind you,” she says with a smile, “find a nice bed to sleep in.”

Orion dutifully does so, slipping into the pool head first, with barely a splash - a skill he learned, or perhaps inherited, from his father. Pidge is relieved when his head bobs up and is waiting for her with a smile.

Pidge lifts her upper body in preparation to join him, but the sling is hoisted up again - with her in it.

“No!” she screams as the suddenness unbalances her and she falls back into the cloth.  _ They can’t do this! _ Pidge struggles to get out - she will claw her way to her son if needed. 

“Mommy?” he says in shock, small arms scraping at the grassy edge of the pool, followed by a scream of fear. “Mommy!”

A hand encloses around her throat, pushing her back to the cloth. In her anxiety, Pidge nearly forgets how to breathe above water. 

“Where are you taking me?” she says, unafraid to show how terrified she is, but not willing to stop her fight, growling in determination. “Let me go!”

A litany of questions and pleading and  _ demanding _ continue even as they move inside the largest building. A small part of her wants to believe she’s overreacting and that they’ll simply release her to the other side of the pool and she can crawl along the pool floor to get to where her son is. 

That part of her grows smaller as she’s taken through corridors inside the human dwelling, long and distracting in the way they are unnaturally straight with sharp turns. Window after window Pidge sees all kinds of sea creatures confined behind glass walls. An octopus climbs up a side, as if trying to suck its way out. 

Even it wants to escape this place. 

Pidge is placed on a raised metal structure as one of her guards fiddles with a machine at yet another glass door. Once open, she is moved through and finally lowered into a shallow pool, not even deep enough for her to submerge half her body. They leave, not bothering to remove the cloth from under her. 

The woman with white hair takes their place, eyes only on Pidge as she walks past the ones who brought Pidge to this foreign environment. 

Only in the knowledge that Orion is in a relatively safe place does she collapse in exhaustion and allows the woman to touch her tail to inspect the gaping wound in it. Her tail stings as the woman puts some human-made concoction on it, but Pidge can’t find the strength to even react.  _ Of course _ human healing practices are painful. They seem to cause nothing  _ but _ pain. 

The woman speaks with Pidge the whole time and she desperately wishes to understand, another frustration that compounds on the already awful situation. She settles into a daze, somewhere between sleeping and waking.

“I am so, so sorry.”

Pidge’s head jerks up out of the water that can barely be worthy of a tidal pool, her heart racing with some hope. She doesn’t know how this human knows her language, or why she’s chosen not to until now but...

“Please, put me with my son. He’s scared. Or bring him here or…” The woman backs away, a sorrowful look on her face before she turns and leaves Pidge in solitude, no indication she’d understood her. 

The voice had been so quiet, Pidge wonders if she is hearing things in her exhaustion. 

The water level rises so that Pidge can lie submerged on her side, arms comfortably underwater. With a click, the lights above turn dark. Only the light of the moon from the window far above her provides any illumination. Perhaps not human here can be trusted, kind as they seem.  


A hiccup. Then a sob. Pidge wraps her arms loosely around herself, imagining she still has Orion in her arms. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I kidnapped Lance with their child and now its Pidge's turn sorry not sorry

**Author's Note:**

> Find Rue on [Tumblr](https://rueitae.tumblr.com/). 
> 
> Find Ivy on [Tumblr](https://anchoredtetherart.tumblr.com/). 
> 
> Please leave a comment about what you liked! We have a loose idea of what we're doing, but the more we hear from you the more we'll be motivated to keep going!


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